Maybe I’m starting to believe it too.
“Tolin?” She’s watching me with soft eyes. “You coming?”
I cross the store to her side, and when I take her hand again, I bring it to my lips and press a kiss to her knuckles.
“Thank you,” I murmur against her skin.
“For what?”
“For seeing me. The real me.”
Her expression softens even more. “That’s all I’ve ever seen.”
The female employee clears her throat awkwardly. “So, um, what can we help you find today?”
Imani turns to her with a bright smile, the earlier tension already forgotten. “We’re furnishing a whole cabin. Living room, bedroom, dining room.” She squeezes my hand. “The works.”
“Wonderful! Let me show you our living room sets first. We have some beautiful pieces that just came in.”
We follow her through the store, but Imani’s eyes keep drifting to the front window where the green chair sits on display.
“Can we start there?” she asks, pointing. “That chair. I want to see it up close.”
The employee leads us over, and Imani approaches the chair like it’s something sacred. She reaches out and runs her fingers over the velvet, her touch reverent.
“It’s even more beautiful than I remembered,” she whispers.
“Sit in it,” I tell her.
She hesitates. “What if it’s not comfortable? What if I’ve built it up in my head and the reality doesn’t match?”
“Only one way to find out.”
She takes a breath and lowers herself into the chair.
Her whole face transforms. The tension in her shoulders melts away. She leans back into the cushion, runs her hands along the armrests, and lets out a sigh that I feel all the way through the bond.
“It’s perfect,” she says, her eyes going glassy. “Tolin, it’s perfect.”
“Then it’s yours.”
“But we haven’t even looked at the price tag yet. Make sure the price hasn’t changed. Maybe there’s something more practical that...”
“Imani.” I crouch down beside the chair so we’re eye level. “Do you love it?”
“Yes.”
“Then it’s yours. End of discussion.”
She laughs, wiping at her eyes. “You’re impossible.”
“So I’ve been told.” I stand and turn to the employee, who’s watching our exchange with a bemused expression. “We’ll take the chair. And whatever else she wants. Show us everything.”
For the next two hours, we walk through the store while Imani picks out furniture for our new home. A deep brown leather couch that matches the chair. A solid oak dining table with six chairs because she wants room for family dinners. A bedroom set in warm cherry wood with a bed big enough for both of us and then some.
Every time she hesitates over a price tag, I tell the employee to add it to the list.
Every time she tries to talk me out of something, I remind her that this is non-negotiable.
